What condition did YOUR Marstar M14 arrive in?

"In the real world, tolerances for the pistons and gas tubes vary considerably" ...

some of the norc gas assemblies will fit some of the gi barrels some of the time,
some of the gi gas assemblies will fit some of the norc barrels some of the time
all of the gas assemblies will fit all of the barrels, if you

A: FILE the splines to make them smaller
OR
B: PEEN the splines to make them bigger

NONE of the gas assemblies can be guaranteed to index perfectly right from the factory
[getting the gas assembly to index perfectly is NOT guarenteed in even a US GI M-14 ]... which is why we have shim kits, and unitised gas assemblies, and gunsmiths, who charge big bucks to make it perrrrrrrfect.

Like the great Philosopher David Lee Roth has said
PART 1:
"DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL $HIT"

PART 2: "IT IS ALMOST ALL SMALL ####".

Most of the Chinese gas assemblies are just fine ...
investing in unecessary GI parts won't make the Norc shoot any better ...
 
Well, I am still waiting for mine, I hope by Wednesday? I have been billed on my card, but no gun yet? All this talk, perhaps I keep it in the case and never open it, and in 10 years, maybe it will be worth a ton as an un-fired rifle? Or will they be back in-stock and cheaper then, who really knows. Really, I just want to plink with it, and drop the odd buck here and there.
 
Hungry, got us a new truck for recovery even newer than the HL, Brand new Mercedes Benz. PM me with your email and I might know where to find a pic or 2 of it.... May have taken the course already???? Sorry to hijack. My Norc would be a great asset across the pond. Too bad eh.. I would totally hungry it out!! Shoot I might even consider using something different than the chu wood stock if they let me take it.
 
manbearpig said:
-op-rod guide and everything else seems very solid. letting the action slam into battery produces a nice clear ringing sound.
Click to expand...

I believe the ringing sound is the piston pinging against the Gas Cylinder. After you shoot about 50 rounds it will go away (due to carbon buildup). Clean nicely after you shoot and the ringing will come back. It's a good example of how well you clean it.

PS. in reguards to the Gas Cylinder, the Chinese have never heard about True Position tolerancing
 
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#1BC SHOOTER;
I would respectfully ask you to read the many explanations I have posted on manufacture of the M-14s....
Once you have informed yourself, then perhaps you can shoot off your mouth giving an informed opinon rather than this absolute nonsense.
John....
HAPPY NEW YEAR REGARDLESS
 
johnone said:
#1BC SHOOTER;
I would respectfully ask you to read the many explanations I have posted on manufacture of the M-14s....
Once you have informed yourself, then perhaps you can shoot off your mouth giving an informed opinon rather than this absolute nonsense.
John....
HAPPY NEW YEAR REGARDLESS
Click to expand...

To John . I got a M14s from you several years ago & have nothing but good things to say about it & your store . I was not bad mouthing marstar . Your store is one of the only ones I would deal with ( Gave you over $4000 last year alone) & I have read your info on the latest M14's . I was only staiting a fact based on all the CNG member feed back on several & growing M14 threads . I have over 1000 rnds through my Norinco M14s & my Norinco AR15 clone with no problems . Compare that to my AR180B which is on its 3rd lower receaver first 2 broke within 300 rnds . So sometimes you get what you pay for & sometimes you dont . Fact of life .
 
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im not unhappy with the rifle at all... Americans would kill to own one of these for $400. a quick progress report:

i contacted Marstar and the fibreglass handguard is covered under the warranty, so thats nothing anyone should worry about. i do recommend that if you are reassembling your rifle or installing a Marstar handguard you do it very carefully to check the length if the handguard - mine was definitely a couple hundredths of an inch too long. if the replacement is too long again ill just sand off a hair from the end so it fits snug without damaging the handguard.

the gas cylinder i am not happy with but like Hungry and Laz said it will undoubtedly function fine regardless. it just bothers me because im a perfectionist so just looking at it freaks me out :(
ill just keep an eye out for a good deal on a stainless USGI assembly and shoot it like it is in the meantime. even if i spend $100 for a new USGI gas assembly its still a good deal.

as for the rear aperture - i dremeled it out with a diamond bit into a larger aperture more suited for general use (imo the one it comes with is more suited for target use).
newsightsie1.jpg

here is my modified rear sight, shown next to Benelli ghost-rings on the left for size comparison. i might enlarge the aperture a bit more later, but didnt want to do too much at once since there is no going back. someone mentioned using black permanent marker for blacking them, i just used cold blue... it came out really black on the raw machined metal. the front of the aperture is beveled to about 1mm thickness so when looking through the aperture at an angle you dont see a 'tunnel' of metal.
 
MBP, as an aside, if you wanted to play it safe with the apertures and purchase the .125" one used on the Mk14, it can be specialty ordered through Brownells.
XS SIGHT 22-2213A-125-1 M1A RIFLE
SIGHT XS SIGHT 22-2213A-125-1 .125
REAR SIGHT ONLY
Click to expand...
Last year I payed $45USD plus the shipping. It might be an option for you if you wanted the larger size, but leaving you with a narrow option to return to.
 
I just got mine yesterday. It looks good, and oily! Stock is oozing crude, and seems quite soft just like my other one. Everything seems tight(gas plug too tight to take off without barrel/cylinder wrench) no rattles or play. Barrel appears to be a few degrees under indexed but not bad. (checked on flat surface with front sight ears and back of receiver alignment). I haven't headspaced it. Trigger feels good and passes the safety check. All in all I like it! Seems as good as my Dark. I've cleaned it up and will soon see how it shoots. Cheers
 
My receiver looks better than that.

My piston is centered.

The stock sucks so I've got the glass USGI stock.

The rear sight is drilled center but the windage and elevation knobs hardly turn so I zeroed them and left them.

Op rod guide was loose so I used red loctite and a new roll pin. My gas system is a little loose but was tight when it came (I've since shot about 600rds) - I don't care.

The barrel is indexed properly.

For $399 + about $800 worth of SA 7.62 I've got a blaster and enough bullets to last my lifetime. Yahoooooo!

:50cal:

Cheers,
 
everything was fine with mine.................only a bent rear sight windage spindle and a garbage stock, but hey, its less than 500$, what do you expect. Shoots like a damn with hornady match ammo. The 50 year old South African ammo shoots like garbage but its more a fun crap shooter than anything for a non-handloader.
 
Finally got my two M-14's from Marstar today. Rifle no.2 arrived without a handguard. I've emailed Marstar re getting one sent.

I stripped and cleaned rifle no.1 today. From the muzzle:

No signs of the flash hider being welded on. Front sight is hard over to the left of the dovetail, which makes me slightly nervous. Handguard is not overlength and fits correctly. Barrel appears to be indexed properly by visual check. Gas piston is centered in the cylinder, but does not meet the oprod perfectly on center; this is going to require further investigation. Op rod guide is solid.

The trigger guard was a ##### to unlatch. Finally put a knot in one end of a length of paracord and put the other through the hole in the back of the triggerguard. Pulling on the paracord did the job. The rifle was filthy; lots of grit under the remaining cosmoline, especially in the magazines. The rear sight was full of grit and cosmo too. Cleaning kit was complete and present. Parkerizing was uniform and looks good.

I boiled the internals in hot soapy water, and used a lot of Hoppes Blast & Clean and M-Pro 7 on the barrel and receiver. There was a surprising amount of grit and crud in the bottom of the pot afterwards.

The barrel is nice and clean and bright. The grease that came in the cleaning kit was very liquid; I'd expected something thicker and may wind up using something else; I'm afraid that it might give me M-14-Related Genital Disconnection Syndrome. The applicator inside the grease bottle lid was not firmly attached and came free during greasing.

I was pleased with the rear sight. It was initially sticky, gritty, gunked up with cosmo, and difficult to disassemble. I had to drift out the elevation knob. The crosshatching on the back of the aperture is quite uniform, and the aperture centered. Likewise, the serrations on the sight ears were, although not perfect, quite clean. The boiling in soapy water and massive applications of Blast & Clean to the elevation knob seemed to do the job on the rear sight; it works much better now, with nice clean positive clicks; the windage knob is mushier, but that's by design. I may wind up keeping it if it works well at the range

I was very pleased with the trigger pull; I don't have a pull gauge, but I doubt I'll be doing any work on the trigger. It's got a small bit of takeup, and breaks cleanly. It's a hell of a lot closer to the match grade trigger on my 10/22 than it is on my Norc SKS :).

The stock looks nice, dark with an oiled finish, but on close inspection the inletting is rough and the finish on non-visible areas non-existent. It can be dented with a thumbnail. Overall, though, it is miles better than the stock on my Norinco SKS. I have a USGI stock coming from .45ACPKing, so I might just paint the Chu-wood stock pink with Hello Kitty decals or something.

Overall, I'm pleased, pending the outcome of detailed inspection of headspace, bolt lug mating, barrel indexing checking, resolution of that off-center mating between the gas piston and oprod (which I understand will not actually impede functioning), and, of course, seeing whether it actually shoots well.

This being the first M-14 I've handled, I was pleasantly surprised at how light it is. Somehow, I'd expected it to be bigger, longer, and heavier. Magazine insertion is going to take a little practice, and I [expletive deleted] hate the 5/5 minimags.

Overall, it looks like rifle no.1 was one heck of a deal for my $399.99. I'll try and get a range report done as soon as I can get out.
 
It's in! Just unwrapped it and gave it a quick wipe. The metal work is very crude but the park is uniform. If the barrel indexing is off it's hard to tell by eye, looks good at a glance. Rear sight seems to operate fine though not as positive as my Garand. The trigger has a lot of creep after take up where my M1 breaks like glass, but it's nice and light.
The 20 shot mag feeds a bit awkwardly, slightly less more than my old mini14 years back. The 5s are a bit more awkward but ok for plinking, would be tense if reloading under pressure. The end of the arrestor has a couple small dings, should I be worried about that?
The timing of arrival was a bit awkward as my wife's 40th is in a few days ... she made a crack about expecting a nice surprise after me getting this, so I won't be getting back to the rifle for a bit... :jerkit:.
Overall what can I say, as most will be I'm pleased, can't wait to clean it up and after checking performance and possibly doing some light tuning, it will get a decent stock after proving itself worthy.
Anyway here's some pics, if anyone wants a specific picture let me know and I'll try to get it when time permits.

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:DYahoo! Finally it's here. :) Just got it today. Was gonna post some pics but it's pretty much looking like yours Mikepos so I'm not going to. Everything seems nice and tight. The rear sight is not exactly top notch and the barrel indexing seems just a couple degrees over to the right (hard to tell by just a quick look though). Very minor issues considering the overall rifle. Can't wait to test it out. I'm just wondering if I should worry about headspacing with 7.62 ammo at this point or just let 'er rip.
:50cal:
:50cal:
 
How clean should the trigger assembly be from cosmoline. It is hard to remove every drop and I'm assuming it's not a good idea to completely tear it down. Also in the manual is says it's not necessary to clean the inners of the bolt but there must be some cosmoline in there and i'm assuming that wouldn't be good. I'm also not going to take that apart. Any help appreciated.
 
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